Kaddish (poem): Difference between revisions
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{{short description|Poem by Allen Ginsberg}} |
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"'''Kaddish'''" also known as "'''Kaddish for Naomi Ginsberg (1894–1956)'''" is a poem by [[Beat generation|Beat]] writer [[Allen Ginsberg]] about his mother Naomi and her death on June 9, 1956. |
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==Background== |
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'''== Headline text == |
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Ginsberg began writing the poem in the [[Beat Hotel]] in [[Paris]] in December 1957, completing it in New York in 1959. It was the lead poem in the collection ''[[Kaddish and Other Poems]]'' (1961).<ref>(''Kaddish and Other Poems 1958–1960'' by Allen Ginsberg (City Lights Books: San Francisco, 1961))</ref> It is considered one of Ginsberg's finest poems, with some scholars holding that it is his best. |
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The |
The ''Kaddish'' of the title refers to the mourner's prayer or blessing in [[Judaism]]. This long poem was Ginsberg's attempt to mourn his mother, Naomi, but also reflects his sense of loss at his estrangement from his born religion. The traditional [[Kaddish]] contains no references to death, but Ginsberg's poem is riddled with thoughts and questionings of death. |
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<br><br> |
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Commencing,<br> |
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''Strange now to think of you, gone without corsets & eyes, while I walk on the sunny pavement of Greenwich Village. |
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==Stage version== |
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''downtown Manhattan, clear winter noon, and I've been up all night, talking, talking, reading the Kaddish aloud, listening to Ray Charles blues shout blind on the phonograph |
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Ginsberg wrote a screenplay based on the poem. [[Robert Frank]] was to direct it, but money could not be raised for the project. In 1972, [[Robert Kalfin]] readapted the screenplay for the stage and produced it at the [[Chelsea Theater Center]] in the [[Brooklyn Academy of Music]]. The play explored Naomi Ginsberg's schizophrenic collapse and made use of innovative video for flashback scenes. |
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There is a detailed description of this production and of behind-the-scenes incidents surrounding it in [[Davi Napoleon]]'s chronicle of the Chelsea, ''[[Chelsea on the Edge: The Adventures of an American Theater]]'' (1991). Kalfin's adaptation was also staged in the [[Habima]] theater in Israel, translated by [[Nathan Zach]] and starring [[Yoram Khatav]] as Allen and [[Gila Almagor]] as Naomi. In June 2014 the play was adapted as a one actor play "Watching from Window" and premiered in "Israel Festival".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.habama.co.il/Pages/Description.aspx?Subj=1&Area=1&ArticleID=22567|title=תיאטרון - המפתח בחלון – אלגיה על טירוף|website=www.habama.co.il}}</ref> |
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''the rhythm the rhythm --- and your memory in my head three years after --- And read Adonais' last triumphant stanzas aloud --- wept, realizing how we suffer --- '' |
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==Notes== |
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it builds to a final magnificent crescendo:<br> |
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Kaddish (קדיש Aramaic: "holy") refers to an important and central prayer in the Jewish prayer service. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the liturgy, several variations of the Kaddish are used functionally as separators between various sections of the service. The term "Kaddish" is often used to refer specifically to "The Mourners' Kaddish", said as part of the mourning rituals in Judaism in all prayer services as well as at funerals and memorials. When mention is made of "saying Kaddish", this unambiguously denotes the rituals of mourning. |
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''Caw caw caw crows shriek in the white sun over grave stones in Long Island |
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A line from the poem, "No more to say and nothing to weep for", was later used as the title of a 1997 [[Channel 4]] documentary on Ginsberg released shortly after his death. |
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''Lord Lord Lord Naomi underneath this grass my halflife and my own as hers |
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==References== |
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''caw caw my eye be buried in the same Ground where I stand in Angel |
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<references/> |
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{{Allen Ginsberg|state=collapsed}} |
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''Lord Lord great Eye that stares on All and moves in a black cloud |
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kaddish (Poem)}} |
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''caw caw strange cry of Beings flung up into sky over the waving trees |
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''Lord Lord O Grinder of giant Beyonds my voice in a boundless field in Sheol |
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''Caw caw the call of Time rent out of foot and wing an instant in the universe |
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''Lord Lord an echo in the sky the wind through ragged leaves the roar of memory |
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''caw caw all years my birth a dream caw caw New York the bus the broken shoe the vast highschool caw caw all Visions of the Lord |
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''Lord Lord Lord caw caw caw Lord Lord Lord caw caw caw Lord |
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{{poetry-stub}} |
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[[Category:1961 poems]] |
[[Category:1961 poems]] |
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[[Category:American poems]] |
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Latest revision as of 02:18, 18 July 2021
"Kaddish" also known as "Kaddish for Naomi Ginsberg (1894–1956)" is a poem by Beat writer Allen Ginsberg about his mother Naomi and her death on June 9, 1956.
Background
[edit]Ginsberg began writing the poem in the Beat Hotel in Paris in December 1957, completing it in New York in 1959. It was the lead poem in the collection Kaddish and Other Poems (1961).[1] It is considered one of Ginsberg's finest poems, with some scholars holding that it is his best.
The Kaddish of the title refers to the mourner's prayer or blessing in Judaism. This long poem was Ginsberg's attempt to mourn his mother, Naomi, but also reflects his sense of loss at his estrangement from his born religion. The traditional Kaddish contains no references to death, but Ginsberg's poem is riddled with thoughts and questionings of death.
Stage version
[edit]Ginsberg wrote a screenplay based on the poem. Robert Frank was to direct it, but money could not be raised for the project. In 1972, Robert Kalfin readapted the screenplay for the stage and produced it at the Chelsea Theater Center in the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The play explored Naomi Ginsberg's schizophrenic collapse and made use of innovative video for flashback scenes.
There is a detailed description of this production and of behind-the-scenes incidents surrounding it in Davi Napoleon's chronicle of the Chelsea, Chelsea on the Edge: The Adventures of an American Theater (1991). Kalfin's adaptation was also staged in the Habima theater in Israel, translated by Nathan Zach and starring Yoram Khatav as Allen and Gila Almagor as Naomi. In June 2014 the play was adapted as a one actor play "Watching from Window" and premiered in "Israel Festival".[2]
Notes
[edit]Kaddish (קדיש Aramaic: "holy") refers to an important and central prayer in the Jewish prayer service. The central theme of the Kaddish is the magnification and sanctification of God's name. In the liturgy, several variations of the Kaddish are used functionally as separators between various sections of the service. The term "Kaddish" is often used to refer specifically to "The Mourners' Kaddish", said as part of the mourning rituals in Judaism in all prayer services as well as at funerals and memorials. When mention is made of "saying Kaddish", this unambiguously denotes the rituals of mourning.
A line from the poem, "No more to say and nothing to weep for", was later used as the title of a 1997 Channel 4 documentary on Ginsberg released shortly after his death.
References
[edit]- ^ (Kaddish and Other Poems 1958–1960 by Allen Ginsberg (City Lights Books: San Francisco, 1961))
- ^ "תיאטרון - המפתח בחלון – אלגיה על טירוף". www.habama.co.il.